Senators-Elects across political divides in the incoming 10th Senate are frowning at the attempt of Senator-Elect of Zamfara West, Abdul Aziz Yari, to compromise his incoming colleagues pursuant of his unbridled ambition of becoming the President of the 10th Senate using the instrument of money.
Recalled that it has been reported that some aspirants for the leadership of the Red Chamber from June are offering financial inducement in local and foreign currencies to sway their colleagues for the exalted positions of presiding officers.
But in a backlash against the ex-governor’s garrulous agitation and divisive approach, Senators-elect across party lines are kicking against offers of money for support of what is a personal ambition of one man, who thinks he can buy the Senate Presidency with money.
An opposition party South-South Senator-elect, who is a billionaire but refused the publication of his name for strategic reason of ongoing politics, warned Yari to stop gambling with his money trying to induce senators-elect stressing that “ the issues at stake goes beyond APC as a party as other senators-elect are determined to elect presiding officers that respects other members as equals and not one attempting to cheaply bribe his way to lord it over us”.
“We are not moved by the dangling of financial inducement. We know Senator-Elect Yari has a war financial chest traceable to his links to the over N84 billion Naira heist by the former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris and the sleaze of the Paris Club Refund to governors for which about N500 billion and $500,000 has been forfeited to the Federal Government. But most of us cannot be bought and had since signed off to vote the right candidates according to our consciences and the will of the people we represent” the billionaire senator-elect stated.
Another senator-elect from the South West who pleaded anonymity, wondered why Yari will masquerade as a champion of the North West geopolitical zone or the North of APC to anchor his unmerited personal ambition when he was pivotal to the intractable problem of APC in Zamfara State leading to opposition PDP winning the state in the last election.
The ranking Senator-elect said by their rules and tradition in the Red Chamber, Yari’s place is at the back of the chamber as a new senator-elect adding that he cannot aspire to lead as a presiding officer as a first timer who will be sworn in by the elected President of the Senate.
“Senator-Elect Yari should stop fanning the ember of division in the party and the blackmail of Northern backlash against the party in 2027. The task at hand is to rescue Nigeria and renew hope of Nigerians in the next 4 years and we don’t need the rancor and divisiveness in the name of agitating for presiding officer’s position” the senator-elect stated.
He also chided the Zamfara West senator-elect for questioning the possibility of the APC Zoning arrangement resulting in the heads of the three arms of government being in the South stressing that it is not a novel situation even under the out-going Buhari administration where heads of the three arms were in the North for most of the 8 years.
Only yesterday, the governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Abdulahi Sule, had while welcoming the Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Jubrin Barau Stability Group of the incoming 10th Senate that cut across party lines, stated that the APC Northern Governors are fully backing the choice of the President-Elect for the Senate adding that their only concern now was accommodation of all geopolitical zones in the APC zoning arrangement.
It will be recalled that Senator Ali Ndume, the Director General of the Stability Group, on national television has confirmed being aware of attempts to financially induce Senators-elect over the issue of election of the Senate Presiding officers without mentioning the brain behind what he described as degrading to the office of a Senator.